Tuesday, March 24, 2020 - Fourth week of Lent - Gospel of Jesus Christ according to St. John 5, 1-16 - Create in me a pure heart, O my God; give me back the joy of being saved.

Again Jesus heals a sick person. Here we are talking about a man who has been sick for 38 years and who is waiting to be able to dive by chance into the pool whose water has a healing power. This is the image of humanity waiting for salvation, enduring sickness and suffering due to sin. It is at this moment that Jesus intervenes, He saves, heals and raises up. God is always quick to save us; we only need to believe and trust for this to happen. Jesus who heals this man on the Sabbath wants to show us that whoever believes in Him is freed from naive observance and lives fully and freely as a son of God.

The encounter with Jesus must change our being and our life. This encounter establishes a special bond between us and Jesus: Jesus finds the one he has healed, orders him to sin no more, and the latter leaves to bear witness to what Jesus has accomplished. In short, the grace received does not allow us to remain silent and the encounter with Jesus is a permanent call to holiness.